The al-Qaeda airline hijacking and destruction of the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001, the horror we now refer to as 9/11, was America’s greatest tragedy since Pearl Harbor.

On a sunny September morning, four commercial American planes were taken over by knife-wielding terrorists who set the planes on a path of destruction. The first crashed into the South Tower of the World Trade Center at 8:46 a.m.; 45 minutes later, the second hit the North Tower. Both collapsed from the impact and the resulting fires.

About a half hour later, a third plane plunged into the Pentagon, destroying its west wing, while the fourth plane, also heading toward Washington, D.C., crashed into a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, after passengers attacked the hijackers.

The death toll of that morning and the weeks that followed reached nearly 3,000. The loss of property was assessed at $10 billion.

The loss of American confidence and sense of safety was immeasurable.

A blinding, suffocating cloud of debris from the collapse of the twin towers during the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks was deadly for many and a test of survival for others. Ernesto Butcher, a veteran of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey who was praised for his calm leadership in the days and weeks after the Sept. 11 terror attacks destroyed the World Trade Center, has died at age 69.
(Photo:
Photo courtesy of Victor Guarnera
)

Editor's note: For more than 140 years, The Greenville News has told the story of our community and the people who live here. Each day this year we are publishing a brief piece of our history – Greenville's story.